


Serendipity in Aisle Nine

by FeralScribe



Series: Widomauk Week 2019 Prompts [1]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Chance Meetings, Coming out (sort of), Don’t copy to another site, Gender-Neutral Pronouns for Mollymauk Tealeaf, Genderfluid Mollymauk Tealeaf, Lucien (mention), Other, Reunions, Teacher/Student Reunion, Widomauk Week 2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-03
Updated: 2019-06-03
Packaged: 2020-04-06 23:00:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,228
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19072429
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FeralScribe/pseuds/FeralScribe
Summary: Caleb runs into a former student at the grocery store, but Mollymauk is not the person he remembers.





	Serendipity in Aisle Nine

Caleb thought this was going to be an average trip to the supermarket. He needed bread and toothpaste and more of Frumpkin’s favorite kitty treats. However, as he wanders the aisles he spots a familiar set of horns near the boxed dinners.

“Lucien?”

The tail locks up in a startled twist much the same as it did when Caleb used to randomly call on the tiefling to answer a question in class. There have definitely been some changes since those days. The horns are adorned with bright gaudy piercings, tattoos flow out from under the colorful T-shirt, and frankly the colorfulness in general is a change. The Lucien that Caleb remembers wore band shirts in varying shades of black and kept his hair buzzed short. The tiefling before him tucks a stray lock of wavy purple hair up and over one horn with an awkward grimacing grin.

“H-Hey, Mister Widogast.”

Caleb smiles. These interactions are as strange for the former teacher as they are for the former student, so he tries to be amiable to make it easier for both of them. “How have you been? You look well.”

“I am. And…um…I go by ‘Molly’ now. Well, Mollymauk, but Molly.”

“Ah.” Caleb has dealt with this a few times before, but he still has to think to remember the proper response. “Er, um…if you don’t mind my asking, what pronouns do you use?”

“They/them, if _you_ don’t mind.” That helps ease some of the tension in their shoulders. “In case you haven’t noticed, I’ve uh…gone through some changes since high school.”

“I did notice that, and as I said, you are looking well.” Caleb sorts through his memory to find a relevant question for small talk. “Are you uh, still dating Cree?”

Molly shakes their head. The jewelry on their horns flashes under the supermarket’s overhead lighting. “No, we broke up after graduation. I…don’t hang out with any of those guys anymore.”

Caleb nods approvingly. Lucien was part of a group of troublemakers back in the day. They were the sort of kids who liked to pretend they were into the occult to piss off their parents and establish their independence. In reality the closest they ever got to casting spells was summoning cops when they were caught trespassing or committing some other minor crime. Lucien was only like that around the others. Not the most gifted student, Caleb had had to speak to him during office hours a few times about his grades, and the tiefling had shown another side of his personality, a more comical and caring side. Caleb supposes that was Molly, in their early stages.

“What are you doing with yourself now?” Caleb asks.

“Oh, um…traveling, mostly. I uh, hang out with this troupe and they need someone to haul all their stuff on and off stage.” Molly pulls back the sleeve of their shirt and flexes. A field of flowers ripples as though disturbed by a breeze. A shimmering snake writhes on their forearm. “I may not be super jacked — _yet_ — but I can carry a lot of rope. I’m even working on an act that they said they might be able to incorporate in their show once I’m good at it.”

Caleb beams. “That is wonderful, L— Molly. Good to see you are doing something you enjoy. That is all teachers ever hope for their students.”

Molly grins back. “Yeah, well, I’d like to apologize for ever saying I would never use anything I learned in your class in real life. Turns out that understanding the basics of physics is bloody useful when you’re trying to move a lot of stuff with only one hand truck and a few pullies.”

That makes Caleb laugh. “Yes, no one expects that a knowledge of the six simple machines will do them any good, and then they go out into the real world, and suddenly they’re everywhere!”

“Ha ha, yeah, who would have guessed?” Molly has relaxed since Caleb first greeted them. Their smile is bigger and brighter than Caleb remembers. Perhaps that is from more practice. It seems they’ve had plenty to smile about since they were a teenager. Caleb likes this new and improved Molly. If only they could have been this way when they were his student. It wasn’t that Lucien was a dreadful person, but if Molly was in there unable to get out because of Lucien’s friends, Caleb can’t imagine how frustrating that must have been.

Molly somewhat casually leans against the shelves. “So uh, are you doing anything later? That is— Um— Well, my friends are performing tonight and I think there are a few tickets left. I mean, probably not your style, but if you’re interested…?” They smile awkwardly like they’re expecting him to politely decline.

“I would love to come see your show, even if you aren’t in it yet,” Caleb says with a nod. “But how long around you in town for? Perhaps we could get coffee? I’d like to get to know this person you’ve become.”

“Oh. Uh, yeah, yeah if that’s what you want, sure.” There’s something giddy in Molly’s smile. It’s very cute. Molly is very cute in general. Usually Caleb would advise fellow teachers against flirting with former students, but Molly hasn’t been his student in over five years and furthermore he had no interest in Lucien whatsoever so it isn’t as though this sudden attraction is based on anything inappropriate. From the way Molly is looking at him, Caleb guesses they don’t mind one bit.

A tall muscular woman comes up the aisle to stand at Molly’s side. At first she reminds Caleb of the crowd Lucien hung out with, dressed in blacks and greys with heavy eye make-up, but her style is more rugged than rebellious. She lightly punches Molly on the shoulder. “You ready to go yet?” she asks.

“Not yet,” Molly replies. “Sorry, got distracted. Ran into an old teacher. Yasha, this is Mister Widogast. Mister Widogast, this is my best friend Yasha. She’s a fellow roadie and one hell of a bouncer.”

Yasha nods. There’s a spark of realization in her expression. “You’ve told me about him, right? The one teacher who never called you a hopeless cause?”

Molly’s cheeks turn rosy. “Uh, heh, yeah, that one.” They clear their throat. “Anyway, um, guess I’d better get going. Gotta help with the show and all. I’ll uh, I’ll see you there, yeah?”

“As soon as I know the time and place,” Caleb says with a chuckle.

“Oh! Right. I’ve got a flyer, actually…” Molly pulls a folded piece of paper from their pocket. “Here. If there are no tickets left tell them I’m comping you a VIP seat. I don’t think I can do that, but maybe it will work?”

Yasha snorts. “It probably won’t.”

Caleb takes the flyer. “I will get there early,” he says. “And perhaps if you are done setting up we can talk more about coffee?”

Molly’s tail flicks the way Frumpkin’s does when he sees a bird outside the window that he wants to chase. “Sure. Terrific. I’ll see you then, Mister Widogast.”

“You’re not in school anymore, Molly. You may call me Caleb.”

“I guess I'm not. So…see you tonight, Mister Caleb.”

Caleb smiles. “See you tonight. I am looking forward to it.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! The story continues [here](https://archiveofourown.org/works/19111945). Please leaves kudos and comments, and if you want to support my work even more you can find me on Ko-fi under the same name!


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